15th January, 2009

'British Fritzl' strikes up prison friendship with reviled paedophile Sidney Cooke

By Jeremy Armstrong

Reviled paedophile Sidney Cooke has struck up a sick prison friendship - with the sex monster dad dubbed Britain's Josef Fritzl.

Sidney Cooke (Pic:PA)

Reviled paedophile Sidney Cooke (above) has struck up a sick prison friendship - with the sex monster dad dubbed Britain's Josef Fritzl.

Wheelchair-bound Cooke, 81, is best pals with the perverted rapist, jailed last November for keeping his two daughters as sex slaves.

The 56-year-old father from Sheffield cannot be named for legal reasons.

But he and Cooke - hated and and shunned by other in mates - are said to be inseparable on C Wing at Wakefield jail.

A prison source said: "Cooke can't get around so the Sheffield rapist has become his little helper, pushing him around the wing in his wheelchair.

"He takes him to all his medical appointments and helps him with his meals.

"Even in Wakefield, no one wants anything to do with the rapist after what he put his own children through, so Cooke is the only friend he has.

"No one wants to know Cooke, either. But it seems he's found a chum at last. They are the best of friends - but what a friendship."

The rapist - whose crimes echoed those of Austrian dungeon monster Josef Fritzl - fathered nine children by his two daughters. He later shocked police by claiming they had "benefited" from his sickening abuse.

He calls himself The Gaffer and claims he has no regrets despite pleading guilty to 25 rapes. The evil dad has been ostracised by virtually everyone in the prison - dubbed Monster Mansion because of the perverts, killers and rapists within its walls.

But he has found a soulmate in Cooke, the child sex monster whose crimes include the manslaughter of 14-year-old Jason Swift.

Cooke was caged for life in 1999 after he admitted child sex attacks dating back 20 years. The trial judge ruled that he could be considered for parole after five years - a landmark which fell on December 17, 2004 - but he will never be released.

Since suffering a stroke, he has been given a specially adapted bed, with a mechanical mattress so he can be lowered and raised to help him get in and out of it.

He also has an alarm in his cell in case of another stroke, a TV, music system and tea-making facilities.

Cooke has made no attempt at rehabilitation and has failed to complete any sex offender treatment programmes.

He arrogantly believes he is too old to change his ways, and is still considered a threat to young prisoners. Officials say he is callous, controlling and domineering, refusing to accept responsibility for his crimes.

Part of Britain's most notorious paedophile ring - the so-called Dirty Dozen - he took kids off the streets to be raped and abused at perverted parties.

Nicknamed "Hissing Sid", he was first sentenced to 16 years in 1989 after Jason Swift died at a flat in London's East End.

He was given his current life sentence for five sex attacks in the 70s.

Prison sources say Cooke and the rapist - who will spend a minimum 19 years in jail - have similar warped personalities. Both are arrogant and totally unrepentant.

One insider said: "It's almost a perfect match - two sickos getting together to form some kind of twisted bond.

"They make quite a pair - and frankly they're welcome to each other."

THE PAEDOPHILE

Sidney Cooke's job as a fairground worker allowed him to travel the country preying on vulnerable youngsters. A flat in Hackney, East London, was used for rape and torture by Cooke and fellow gang members.

THE RAPIST

The inmate dubbed Britain's Josef Fritzl was a self-employed businessman who started raping his two daughters when they were as young as eight. He kept moving home to try to stop them having friends to confide in.

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